The Billings Herd: 2010
Registered Jerseys have dominated the landscape of the Billings Farm, located in Woodstock, Vermont, for more than 138 years. The hard work and dedication of farm managers and staff, with the ongoing support of the Billings and Rockefeller families and the Woodstock Foundation, have developed the herd to what it is today. Although always evolving, one goal has remained constant at the Billings Farm: the uncompromising pursuit of excellence.
The herd is made up of nine cow families. However, some members of certain families are more prolific than others. The “Rose” family that produced both “Top Rosanne” and “MC Rosa” has several 3rd and 4th generation representatives at the farm. Vaucluse Surville Suzette's family has flourished here and has numerous descendants, many appraised as excellent or higher. More recent additions to the herd have yielded young cows: the 2008 Reserve All American Senior Two Year Old and Premier Performance Cow, “Remake Bounty” and the 2009 Reserve All American Senior Three Year Old, "Milo Vindication Season-ET."
Our cows are housed in a tie-stall barn on mattresses. Cows with special considerations live in box stalls. The cattle are fed a component diet, which includes alfalfa baleage, corn silage, and a custom-mixed concentrate. Current production measures are in excess of 16,000M 821F 599P on 2x milking. Billings Farm milk is currently being shipped to the Agri-Mark CO-OP.
Our philosophy for genetics is fundamental: we strive to breed the best type-minded examples of the breed and focus on longevity. This is evident with our latest classification from December 2009: 34 cows were classified as excellent; 13 were classified as very good. Additionally, there are nine members of the herd with lifetime credits in excess of 100,000 pounds of milk-all eight of these cows are appraised Ex - 90 or higher.
To learn more about our current and past exceptional animals and the services that we provide for the professional dairy farmer, please visit Our Favorites. To speak directly to farm manager please call the farm office at 802-457-2355, ext. 28 or email: jjohnson@billingsfarm.org.
Read about Billings Farm in the April 2009 issue of Jersey Journal.
